The Belarusian authoritarian government is facing widespread international condemnation and pressure to provide answers after it forced a civilian airplane carrying a prominent exiled opposition activist to land in Minsk on Sunday. Roman Pratasevich, 26, was taken into custody on Sunday, after his Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania was diverted to Belarus. While world leaders fiercely denounced the move as a “hijacking” and an “act of state terrorism,” the country’s presidential press service said that President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the plane to the capital and that the measure was taken due a bomb threat received while the aircraft was over Belarusian territory.
Pratasevich, who is a journalist and vocal critic of the Lukashenko regime, was immediately taken off the plane along with his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. Though the exact details of where they are being held have not been made public yet, a brief video of Pratasevich was aired on Belarusian state television on Monday night, wherein he confirmed that he was in good health and that his treatment by Belarusian authorities was “maximally correct and according to law.” He further said that he was cooperating with investigators and “confessing to having organised mass unrest in the city of Minsk,” referring to the mass protests in the country last year. Responding to the video, exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya said that Pratasevich was under “physical and moral pressure,” and called for his immediate release, along with that of all other political prisoners.
The European Union (EU) also vociferously denounced Belarus’ actions on Monday, and in an emergency summit, approved new sanctions on the country. “We won’t tolerate that one can try to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent civilians,” said EU Council chief Charles Michel, who presided over the meeting. EU leaders also urged all European-based carriers to “avoid overflight on Belarus,” and called on the council “to adopt the necessary measures to ban overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by such airlines.”
Following the EU’s statement, multiple airlines announced that they would suspend flights over Belarus, including the Netherlands’ KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Latvia’s Air Baltic, and Scandinavian SAS. The Ukrainian government also halted flights between Ukraine and Belarus and instructed the latter to refrain from using its airspace.
Criticism also came from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who called the incident “an attack” on freedom of expression as well as European sovereignty and stressed this “outrageous behaviour needs a strong answer.” She further noted that the planned €3 billion investment into the country would be withheld until Belarus “turns Democratic.”
The United States (US), for its part, said on Monday that it would work closely with its European allies “to develop appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible.” President Joe Biden joint calls for an international investigation “to ascertain the complete facts of the case,” as many countries have disputed Belarus’ explanation of events, and demanded the immediate release of Pratasevich and all political prisoners in Belarus. On the same day, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan also spoke with Tsikhanovskaya and assured her that Washington would coordinate with its partners and hold the Lukashenko regime to account.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, defended Belarus’ decision to divert the flight, arguing that it was an “absolutely reasonable approach.” The top diplomat on Monday said that “a representative of the Belarusian foreign ministry... stressed the readiness of the Belarusian authorities to act on the issue in a transparent manner and to follow all international rules,” and urged the international community to “soberly assess the situation.” State Duma leader Leonid Kalashnikov also said that Minsk had the right to choose “those methods that it considers feasible and necessary” to respond to national security threats. Though the Belarusian government claims that the bomb threat came from Hamas, the Palestinian group has denied having any knowledge of the incident.
Belarus Faces International Condemnation Over Plane Diversion to Arrest Dissident
Opposition journalist and activist Roman Pratasevich, 26, was taken into custody on Sunday, after his Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania was diverted to Belarus.
May 25, 2021
SOURCE: AFP